While there’s a stampede of politicians lining up to run for U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss’ seat when he retires, U.S. Rep. Tom Price, R-Roswell, is not among them.

Price said Friday he plans to seek re-election to the position he holds, representing Georgia’s 6th District in the U.S. House.

He also weighed in on the Syrian conflict, the gun debate and the Internet tax bill the U.S. Senate has approved.

“I’ve been remarkably encouraged and inspired by folks all across the district and the state to have us run for higher office, however, our assessment at this point is the House is the battleground for politics in this country right now,” Price said. “The president has identified it as the place where he wants to wage that battle, and he believes that taking the House is what will allow him to have an unfettered run at his agenda, and we’ve got to stop that.”

Price said his role as vice chairman of the budget committee in the House puts him in a unique position to be able to wage that battle as well as put forward positive, conservative solutions.

“The financial support and encouragement that we’ve gotten around the state has been incredibly humbling, and I think we would have been able to wage a very competitive and successful race, but our assessment right now is that the House is where the battle is, and that’s where we’ll be offering for reelection in 2014,” he said.

Kerwin Swint, a political science professor at Kennesaw State University, believes Price made the right move.

“My perspective is that although I think he would be a strong candidate for Saxby’s seat, he’s doing exactly the right thing by staying put for his own career and for what he can do for the party, because he is well positioned in the leadership ranks in the House GOP, and he could climb the ladder much more quickly in the House than he could in the Senate,” Swint said.

Cobb GOP Chairman Joe Dendy has said whenever there is an open seat at the top, it causes a leadership loss because of the domino effect of everyone trying to run for the higher position.

Swint agreed.

“Very often the case when you have an open seat is that you have a scramble, and not all of them can win, and so that means there is going to be vacancies and in this case in the U.S. House delegation,” Swint said.

*We welcome your comments on the stories and issues of the day and seek to provide a forum for the community to voice opinions. All comments are subject to moderator approval before being made visible on the website but are not edited. The use of profanity, obscene and vulgar language, hate speech, and racial slurs is strictly prohibited. Advertisements, promotions, spam, and links to outside websites will also be rejected. Please read our terms of service for full guides